


From Company to Kisses

by BSforDays



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 10:55:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9120592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSforDays/pseuds/BSforDays
Summary: Nagisa decides to be brave and ask the lonely yet handsome guy why he’s sitting alone in his favorite café.





	

December was Nagisa’s favorite month because of all the Christmas decorations and warm atmosphere. Japan was known for its beautiful Christmas trees and cute presents so Nagisa tried to make the most of it while he still could, trying to ignore the cold wind that would make him shiver. Fortunately, he could enjoy the warmth of the little café he was sitting in while he let himself relax a bit after having finished the second semester of college. To treat himself a little, Nagisa had ordered a hot drink and was now lazily doodling in one of his notebooks that he had been carrying in his schoolbag while listening to some of his favorite music.

To make sure he wouldn’t drown out every sound, he had left one earphone out, which was now dangling off the bar, dangerously close to his swinging legs. Nagisa could be very jumpy so he didn’t want anyone to approach him without him noticing and make him end up on the floor with his drink spilled all over his clothes. Been there, done that.

After he laid down his pencil to take another sip from his drink, his eyes fell on that one good-looking guy in the very corner, sitting at a small table that was obviously meant for two people and was, yet again, staring out the window. Said person was clutching his purple phone unusually tightly (Nagisa could see his white knuckles while there was at least a good ten feet between them) and continuously nibbling on the fleshy part of his lower lip. Nagisa could only guess he was waiting for someone – possibly his date –, but that they hadn’t shown up yet. It had been a good twenty minutes since Nagisa had entered the café and the guy had already been sitting there, tapping the buttons on his phone nervously and squirming in his seat with a light flush on his defined cheekbones.

Sure, it was none of his business but Nagisa couldn’t help but be intrigued. He turned to one of the employees and put on one of his innocent smiles. “Excuse me, I have a question.”

The girl whom he had been eyeing approached him with her hands folded in front of her black apron, eyes twinkling curiously. “Yes?”

“Well, I know it’s a little weird to ask, but,” Nagisa leaned in a little closer and cupped his hand over his mouth. “that guy over there; the one with the blue hair and red square-shaped glasses? How long has he been sitting there? See, I’m kinda worried about him because he looks rather troubled.”

Unknown to him the girl’s cheeks turned slightly red at the sudden closeness between the two, resembling the color of her hair. She stared at the subject of Nagisa’s question for a few seconds, then down at her watch before she replied with, “Ah, him. He actually reserved that table for a couple of hours and he’s running out of time. He’s been sitting there for almost two hours, I think. I should go over to his table in a bit to let him know.”

Nagisa’s eyes nearly popped out of his head and he almost knocked over his drink, if it hadn’t been for the employees’ quick reflexes. She had basically just confirmed that he was witnessing someone getting stood up, no, getting downright _smacked in the face_ by some asshole, and it hurt. Cute guy in the glasses was still faithfully looking at the grey, snow-covered pavement outside, clutching his phone under the table and Nagisa’s eyes softened.

That was also when he noticed the neat clothes he was wearing. While Nagisa was wearing casual pink jeans, a white hoodie with blue stripes, yellow shoes and his favorite dark blue beanie, handsome stranger was wearing a white polo shirt with a black blazer over it, a playful red tie and dark jeans. Either this guy liked dressing up or had been fiddling in front of the mirror for over an hour because he was supposed to go on a date.

Quickly making up his mind, Nagisa shoved his cellphone, which he had been using for his music, and earphones in his bag and fished out his wallet. “Can I have a chocolate muffin to go please?”

Redhead blinked at him, her flushed cheeks becoming slightly darker. “S-sure. I’ll get it for you right away.”

Not twenty seconds later, she brought him the muffin in a cute brown paper bag with the logo of the café on it –a smiling panda bear with a coffee cup—, Nagisa handed her the money in cash, thanked her and hopped off his chair. His drink wasn’t finished yet to which he was very grateful, so he took that with him as well.

After he took a deep breath, Nagisa walked over to the table in the corner and placed the brown paper bag in front of the stranger with a small _plop_.

Stranger jumped at the unexpected sound and looked up at Nagisa with defeated violet eyes. _Definitely got stood up_ , Nagisa thought sadly.

“Excuse m-me?”

“You looked upset so I bought you some comfort food. It’s a chocolate muffin, do you like chocolate?”

Obviously taken aback by the sudden kindness, handsome guy cleared his throat awkwardly and pushed up his glasses, even though that was hardly needed. “U-um, I do, but, pardon me for being so straightforward, I don’t know you and this is quite random.”

Nagisa had been prepared for this so he casually laid the rest of his stuff on the empty chair, dusted off his hoodie and placed his hands at his sides. “Well, I’m Hazuki Nagisa, 19 years old, currently in my second year of university, majoring in history, and I thought you could use a little pick-me-up. Nice to meet you.”

He bowed and had to hold back a snicker when he heard the stranger making a soft screeching noise.

“… I-I, um… Okay. I’m Ryuugazaki Rei, I guess…”

“Great, now we’re no longer strangers! You should really eat the muffin while it’s still hot, by the way. If you want a drink with that, let me know. And it’s totally fine to call me Nagisa because I usually skip formalities.”

“Wait, hold on—!“

“Is this seat taken? If not, I’d like to sit here.”

Bingo. He had hit a nerve because the glassy eyes behind the frames stared at the wooden table between them and refused to look up again.

Nagisa was so out of line and acting so very intrusive, but he couldn’t help himself.

“I appreciate your kindness, I truly do, I just um…” Rei cleared his throat yet again and gave the brown bag a little nudge. “I’m actually waiting for someone. So, if you don’t mind, I’d rather you leave and take the muffin with you.”

“Well, I’m sure that that “someone” wouldn’t mind me sitting here while you wait. I’m pretty good at keeping people company.” Without waiting for a reply, Nagisa lifted up his bag so he could take a seat s and gave him a radiant smile. “Trust me when I say that you’ll never get bored when I’m around.”

“I’ll have to admit that looking at you alone is an entire exercise on its own,” was the lame reply while violet eyes scanned his choice of clothing. “You look like a unicorn that fell through a rainbow.”

“Thanks!”

“I’m not sure whether that was a compliment—”

“I’ll take it anyway. So, how much time do I have to get to know you? Before your someone comes in, I mean.”

Such a risky and bold move, even for Nagisa. On one hand it felt so wrong to push a person he had just met into a corner like this and on the other hand, Nagisa was very interested in said person and saw the opportunity, not bothering to think twice to take it. Then again, Rei wasn’t objecting to him sitting there, except for being a little awkward and fidgety in his seat. Not that Nagisa could blame him.

“Well, he was supposed to u-um…” Rei’s eyes widened and he started waving his hands in front of Nagisa’s face in frequent, uncoordinated movements, eyes wide. “I mean, _she_ , obviously! I’m not waiting for a _guy_ , pff, that’s… Yeah, no, it’s-it’s a girl. Obviously.”

“You really think I’m gonna judge you for the fact you’re waiting for a guy?” Nagisa’s eyes softened when Rei made a confused noise at the, in his case, unexpected reply, and shyly looked at his feet. “It’s the 21st century, you can do whatever you want. And if it helps, I’m bi with a preference for guys.”

 _Thump._ Rei had dropped his head on the table, right next to the untouched muffin and made some incoherent noises, which sounded like something along the lines of, “ _Oh my god._ ”

“You still gonna eat that muffin, or…?”

More weird noises and Nagisa had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud. This guy was utterly adorable and was completely unware of it. That jerk who had left him here in the dark was definitely missing out.

Rei turned his head so he was lying on the table with his cheek and looked up at Nagisa pleadingly. “Why did you come over to my table?”

“I told you that already. Pay attention to people who buy you food,” Nagisa mused playfully and, feeling more daring than usual, tapped Rei’s forehead with his finger. “You never know when they might stop doing that. And you haven’t answered my question yet.”

Rei slowly raised his head and slightly lowered his glasses, giving Nagisa a semi-skeptical look. “What can you tell me about the Iwakura Mission?”

“…” Nagisa’s lips parted and then raised an eyebrow. That was random. “Eh?”

“You said you’re majoring in history. I’m pretty sure you know what the Iwakura Mission was?”

“Ah,” Nagisa then smirked at him, laying his hands on the table and leaning in closer. “Are you testing me? If I answer correctly, will you answer the question that you’ve been avoiding?”

Narrowing his eyes, Rei didn’t reply. Instead, he gave him a small, tentative nod and folded his arms over his chest. Nagisa then realized he had no idea how old this guy was, let alone what kind of knowledge he possessed. Supposedly, this was some kind of game to win his trust because Rei was all about studying, but since they had only known each other for a couple of minutes, Nagisa couldn’t know and decided to play along.

“Let’s see… The Iwakura Mission took place after the fall of Tokugawa when Japan was rebuilding its economic, social and political system. One of the main goals of the mission was to observe European and American behavior, seeing as Japan wanted to gain the same kind of power the Westerners had during that time, but also to achieve equality. They copied the French education system, Germany’s military system and the British political system. They left in 1871 and came back in 1873 to stop the Korean invasion,” Nagisa said easily, his lips curling into a very satisfied grin as he watched Rei’s eyes widen behind his glasses with each sentence. “And finally, it was led by Iwakura Tomomi. Did I pass the test, _Ryuugazaki-sensei_?”

A light blush dusted Rei’s cheeks and he sputtered to find the right words. Nagisa casually stored the brilliant piece of information of Rei being a very easy person to tease in the back of his head, telling himself he just _had_ to get to know this guy better.

“O-okay, you’ve made your point,” Rei stammered awkwardly and tugged at a loose strand of hair that was right next to his ear. “Had to make sure you were, you know, telling me the truth back there.”

“Right. ‘Cause I definitely look like a person that would lie to you.”

“Well, it’s always the cute ones, isn’t it?”

Now it was Nagisa’s turn to blush. Still, he composed himself and mumbled, “Smooth.”

It was like the roles were reversed because a lazy smile appeared on Rei’s face and he pushed up his glasses. “You’re not the only person here who can flirt.”

His heart fluttered a little at the smug look Rei was giving him. Okay, so they _had_ to be on the same level here and that really gave him more hope. Maybe he actually stood a chance here and had made Rei forget all about his stupid blind date. Nagisa returned his grin and grabbed his drink, wrapping his lips around the straw but never tearing his gaze away.

In response, Rei turned to the brown bag and finally opened it to fish out the chocolate muffin. They drank and ate in silence for the next twenty seconds or so, giving each other the occasional shy glance before looking away again. Nagisa wanted to ask him out, he _really_ did, but maybe Rei was only interested in the innocent flirting thing that you did with a stranger once and then never see them again, or maybe Rei was simply killing time. Nah, the latter didn’t fit the guy’s personality so it had to be the first one.

Still, it didn’t stop Nagisa from being a _tiny_ bit scared. If he wanted to do or say something, he had to do it fast because it was getting kinda busy and the red-headed girl kept looking over at them, appearing to be a little hesitant. Since Nagisa knew she had to kick them out eventually, he swallowed the last bits of his drink and licked his lips when he was done.

“He’s not going to show up, is he?”

For a minute there Nagisa thought he was the one who had said, but it turned out to be Rei, which was quite shocking, seeing as he had been avoiding the subject the whole time.

“… I’m sorry,” he said quietly and looked down at his hands, which lay folded up in his lap.

“Don’t be,” Rei smiled and Nagisa did his best not to stare because _wow,_ his smile was absolutely gorgeous. “You’re the one who came over here to keep me company. I’m glad I’m not still waiting for him. I want to thank you for that.”

So that was it, then. Rei had officially acknowledged that he had been stood up and Nagisa couldn’t help but feel a little bit guilty because of it. Still, maybe this was a good thing, especially since Rei had yet to stop smiling and looking at him and Nagisa nervously fiddled in his seat.

“And also for becoming your new date?” he said hopefully and Rei _laughed._ Oh _god,_ his laugh was even more beautiful than his smile and Nagisa already knew he had found a new drug.

“Excuse me, you two,” the same red-headed girl suddenly interrupted their moment and Nagisa looked up to see her standing next to their table with an apologizing smile. “Since it’s quite busy, I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave.”

Neither of them protested and left the café as quickly as possible. Nagisa was still trying to shrug on his coat when they were outside and Rei let out that beautiful laughter again as he helped him. At this point, Nagisa was literally _praying_ they’d exchange numbers, kiss, hold hands, marry, _whatever,_ as long as things wouldn't end here.

It seems like he wasn’t the only one with that thought because Rei was still standing there after Nagisa had zipped up his coat and appeared to be waiting for some kind of miracle. Nagisa decided to help him out by nudging him with his elbow and Rei jumped up with a loud yelp.

Apparently he was a very jumpy person and Nagisa _loved_ it. “Well?”

“W-what?”

Poor guy. Rei was probably the type who was actually a really shy and awkward and tried to pretend not to be. “When’s our next date?”

“Right,” Rei squeaked out and reached for his pocket so he could get his phone ready. “Just let me um, check my schedule. Christmas is coming, you know, so every place is going to be packed and-and I’m going to be busy as well. Not that I don’t want to see you again, I do! Ah, I still have to buy my parents some gifts since I’ve been all over the place, planning that date and I just uh…”

“Keep breathing, you,” Nagisa snickered and laid a gloved hand on his trembling one. “We don’t have to pick a date right now. How about we go see the big Christmas Tree? Tokyo’s not far from here.”

With a small, tentative nod, Rei took Nagisa’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Yeah. Good idea, _Nagisa-kun_.”

A swarm of butterflies fluttered around in Nagisa’s belly upon hearing his first name and he was very glad Rei had already started walking because he had to slap his free hand over his mouth to stop himself from yelling. They were out in public after all, and he didn’t want to scare off Rei who was _beyond_ red and not just because it was freezing.

Another reason why December was his favorite month, Nagisa thought to himself as he tightened his grip on Rei’s hand because it seemed he had just received the greatest Christmas present yet.

**Author's Note:**

> This was for iwatobies' Secret Santa Gift exchange on Tumblr~. I was distinct-dottiness's Secret Santa hohohoho.  
> I had so much fun writing it, gosh T^T I've always wanted to try the Coffee shop AU and boy, lemme tell you that I get why everyone's doing it 'cause it's hella fun xDD 
> 
> Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and could share it with your loved ones! 
> 
> And as always, please don't forget to leave kudos/comments on your way out ~ ♡


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